An official visualizer for the new single from Outlanders (Tarja Turunen and Torsten Stenzel), "Echoes", featuring Jennifer Batten can be viewed below. You can also stream the single here.
Says Tarja: "A long time ago I sat down in Antigua together with Torsten, Angela, and Adrian to write songs for my second rock album, What Lies Beneath. The writing session was successful and among other songs written, this beautiful one came out. Still, I felt it needed its own special space and that my rock album was not the right place for it.
Many years after, when we were in the process of working with Outlanders, I remembered our song and wanted to use it. In fact, I ended up recording my vocals for the song more than once…
Our love for Africa and its people was the inspiration for this song. Adrian is a Kenyan national himself, so we started to speak about his life there and we wrote the lyrics having this in mind. The endless abuse of this continent throughout the history created the powerful lyrics and sends out a strong message.
Most of the population in Antigua is of an African ancestry as well, so you can clearly hear the echoes of Mother Africa and our song found its home with Outlanders. Everything is connected and happens for a reason.
When searching for the guitar guest for Echoes, I felt we needed a female sensitivity to capture our soul connection with the song. Jennifer Batten was the right person for it. She understood the concept and played wonderfully throughout the song, colouring it with different pedals and voices. Personally, her playing made me weep. Jennifer, thank you for pouring yourself into our song.
Hopefully you can find 'Echoes' inspiring!"
On the creation of the visualizer, Tarja reveals: "On the visualizer for 'Echoes' we wanted to show a different side of Antigua. Its natural beauty surrounds you wherever we go, but if you get to explore Antigua’s rainforest, you get to fall in love with it.
Wallings Dam is about a 30 minutes drive from Falmouth along Fig tree Drive. The old British built dam in itself is not hugely impressive, but the forest scenery around there makes a visit worthwhile.
'Echoes' is a song about Africa, without forgetting the origins of the people of Antigua and the dark history of slavery.
The day of the filming was super warm and humid, so it felt really nice to be embraced with so much greenery and nature.
We hope you will enjoy 'Echoes'!"
"Echoes" is the seventh of eight singles and is available as a limited edition 7" vinyl exclusively at Tarja's online store and digitally at earMUSIC.
Side A:
"Echoes" (Feat. Jennifer Batten)
Side B:
"Echoes" (Original Demo 2008)
